There are 4 steps to install and setup Buying Buddy on your WebStarts website:
- Get a Google Map API Key.
- Install the Buying Buddy plugin as JavaScript.
- Create 2 new web pages and add the "results" and "details" widget short codes to them.
- Confirm that the websites settings in your buying buddy account match the pages you just created.
This article provides detailed instructions to guide you through these steps.
Please Note:
1. Website Settings. You must set your website type as a 'WebStarts' site in Website Settings. This then ensures that you see the correct install code required for your WebStarts website
2. "Sorry this domain is not authorized" Your Buying Buddy widgets are authorized to work on your IDX approved domain (and only on this domain). When you are in WebStarts development area your site may be displayed using a WebStarts subdomain such as "http://xxxxxxx.webstarts.com" - and so instead of seeing the widgets you may see nothing displayed
NOTE: You will probably not see the widgets being displayed in your WebStarts editor. So save the page and click the VIEW SITE button in the WebStarts editor header bar on the right to see a preview. You may also see a message that says "Sorry this domain is not authorized" Seeing this message means that the widgets and Plugin JavaScript are indeed working correctly! If you need your staging domain to be authorized, please submit a help ticket and request a sandbox / staging domain and tell us the specific URL you need authorized.
Step 1: Get your Google Map API Key
A Google Map API key is required.
- Follow these instructions to get a Google Map API key.
When you have created your Key, make sure it is added to Website Settings in your Buying Buddy account before proceeding with the next step.
Step 2: Add Buying Buddy Plugin to your Site
Step 2a: Get the Buying Buddy JavaScript Library Code
If you have not added the Google Map API key to your Buying Buddy account (Website Settings), then the JavaScript plugin code will not be shown.
- Login to your Buying Buddy dashboard at leadsandcontacts.com.
- Navigate to: Websites & Widgets / Setup and Install
Then click the “Plugin Installation” button to view the installation instructions.
Step 2b: Add The Plugin to Your Site
Ensure that the Buying Buddy JavaScript is ONLY added once.
- Now login to your WebStarts website dashboard where you can edit your site.
- In the top menu - click "Insert", then "HTML Code" as shown below:
- You will see a warning message; click YES to proceed and you'll be shown the View Source panel (shown below).
This method ensures that the Buying Buddy JavaScript is loaded on every page in your website. DO NOT MODIFY THE CODE.
Step 3: Add Foundation Pages with Widgets
The following steps are important, they will guide you to:
* Create 2 pages that are NOT in your menus (they are reserved for use by Buying Buddy).
* Add the correct widget specified to each page. Only add one widget to each page.
* Ensure that the 2 page addresses are added to Website Settings in your Buying Buddy account.
* You must add a DNS record to enable social sharing of properties.
Step 3a: Add 2 Foundation Pages
You need to create and identify 2 key pages to be in your Buying Buddy account:
- Results Page (which will show the "Results" widget)
- Property Details Page (which will show the "Property Details" widget)
Plus, you will also need to add a Search Form widget on any other different page too for testing.
- Go back to your WebStarts site editor, and create two BLANK PAGES.
We suggest you give them appropriate titles, such as "results" and "details".
These 2 pages should NOT be displayed in the menu - so click the 'cog' icon for the page and check the box for "Hidden on menu".
Step 3b: Insert Buying Buddy Widget Code to Display Widgets
- EDIT the new "results" page.
Then, in the left menu - choose "Add" - then scroll down the list to select "Embed Code".
You will see a warning message; click YES to proceed and you'll be shown the View Source panel. - In this case, click the tab and select "Paste Code".
Then paste the following short code for the Buying Buddy "Results" widget:<div id="MBBv3_ListingResults"></div>
- SAVE your page.
- VERIFY.
NOTE: You will probably not see the widgets being displayed in your WebStarts editor. So save the page and click the VIEW SITE button in the WebStarts editor header bar on the right to see a preview.
Excellent! You have set up the Results Foundation Page. - NOW REPEAT the above steps to setup your Details page ** Do not forget to do this! **
The Widget short code to use is:<div id="MBBv3_SearchDetails"></div>
Note: The details widget may display a SQL error if you preview it - ignore this.
Excellent! You have now set up the Details Foundation Page. - Finally, paste the Search Form widget to any other page using the process described above (this is for testing the search - this is not a foundation page).
The Search form short code is:<div id="MBBv3_SearchForm"></div>
Before testing - complete the next step!
Step 3c: Configure your Buying Buddy account so that page names match
It's important that the Buying Buddy system knows the page address you used for your Foundation Pages, as Buying Buddy needs to know where to go to show search results, and where to direct your leads (via emails etc.) to see search results and details of a specific property.
So, in this step, you will add the page addresses to the Website Settings in Buying Buddy.
- In your Buying Buddy dashboard, from the current "Get Widgets" page, click the link at the top of the page to go to Website Settings.
Or,
Then click the "Website Settings" link for your website. - Scroll down to section "4. WIDGET FOUNDATION PAGES" to review the page addresses of the Widget Foundation pages.
- Check the page names shown and update them if needed.
- You will see that they are probably shown as just results and details - in which case you need to change these to say the actual names of the pages you created, for example - these might be results.html and details.html.
NOTE: Use the actual page names for YOUR site - don't assume that they are the same as shown in this example!:
Step 4: Enable Property Sharing
Stay in the Website Settings panel in your Buying Buddy account for this next step!
To ensure that the social share options can be used to share properties from your website on Facebook etc, you must add an A RECORD to your domain's DNS records.
- In Website Settings, scroll to review section "3. SOCIAL SHARE OPTIONS".
Or,
Then click the "Website Settings" link for your website. and then scroll down. - Modify the DNS records for your domain mybuyingbuddy.com as follows:
Add an A-RECORD for the subdomain "bb"
to point to: 52.206.194.238 - Once you have added your A-RECORD, set the 'Social Share Option' (below) to be YES, and SAVE SETTINGS.
Troubleshooting
"SQL Error" on Details Page
If you see this message then this is because you are attempting to view the Property Details widget on a page on its own without a reference to a property! Ignore this, the widget is installed correctly and this error is never seen.
Staging / "Sorry this domain is not authorized"
If you see a message that says "Sorry this domain is not authorized", then this means that the Widgets and Plugin JavaScript are indeed working correctly, BUT that your page address is a domain that is not authorized to display Buying Buddy Widgets. It is probably a staging domain that Webstarts has applied while you are in the editor of your website.
There are two options for dealing with this:
- Make sure your actual domain name is applied and working - and then view the "live" site in which case widgets will be displayed correctly. You can then choose to ignore this message while in development.
- If you need to do more extensive development then you can request (via Help Desk) to add your Webstarts development staging domain as an extra (free) "authorized" domain on your account.
We call this a 'sandbox' development URL and it would be authorized temporarily while you do development.
Step 5: Doing More
Your Webstarts site editor will allow you to create custom search forms and use all the capabilities of the Buying Buddy widgets.
Some example that you may like to consider include;
- Adding a Featured Listings page to display your own listings
- Showing your Sold properties
- Creating neighborhood pages with properties for neighborhoods
- Adding lead capture forms that send leads directly to the Buying Buddy CRM
- Adding a general contact form widget
- and a lot more!
You can now use Widget Themes to style widgets - or even add custom CSS too if you wish to.
See our demonstration websites for ideas and inspiration
- https://charliesmithrealty.com (WordPress)
- https://charliesmithrealty.net (HTML / php)
If you need more help please contact us.